My fascination/repulsion with Tinto Brass' explicit trash epic, Caligula, has gotten the better of me. I actually sought out these exploitation knockoffs, made to cash in on the original's success. I started with Caligula and Messalina, which it could almost be said is as much of an "untold story" as this was. In that one, after rehashing events seen in Caligula (more than once!), they off him about 40 minutes in, and the story focuses on Messalina, and who can backstab their way to being empress.
The Untold Story also does some rehashing of its own, and features all sorts of Caligula-esque mayhem (sex/death). There is one torture/death scene I've never seen in a movie, and I'm a horror movie addict, that is particularly brutal and unpleasant... But just not enough to bring up my rating from one star. A 1.1 for that. There are a number of critical failures in this Severin release. Firstly, the story is paper-thin. Worse, it is insanely dull (I mentioned a lethal sin). There is a story about a slave girl Caligula falls for, who has nefarious intentions of her own. Cut to, just about the biggest slap in the face of a resolution any modern-day movie could have.
You want worse? This edition features an extended cut, 16 minutes longer than the US cut, so naturally I gravitated toward seeing that version. This movie's native spoken language is English. What you're saddled with here, with no options to change it, is a terrible Italian DUB, with subtitles. Yikes. And good luck with keeping up with these subs for 2+ hours, because they come and go quickly. I had to watch it in two sittings, because I thought it would never end.
This movie hobbles along for about 45 painful minutes, then (you can thank inspiration from Tinto Brass) devolves into a graphic, ceaseless orgy sequence, the length of which I haven't seen since Carlos Tobalina was still alive. Or maybe it just seemed that way (though it lasted at least 30 minutes). Assuming at least the bulk of the 16 minutes of padding can be found here. There's midgets, ED, elderly people, various unpleasantries (participants are sprayed with blood as there is a fight to the death going on in the meantime), and to cap it off, a rather unattractive looking woman manipulates a horse. And I thought the graphic donkey and horse scenes in Caligula and Messalina were over-the-top.
You're saying, oh, that sounds interesting. Until you slog through it. Funny thing, this is where I stopped the movie, to finish it another time. When graphic sex was onscreen, which I have no aversion to.
Anyway, once those fireworks (I'm using the term loosely) subside, it goes back to the non-story where Caligula enjoys torturing people, and having sex with his slave girl (in two identical scenes!). The Untold Story was one major swing and a miss for me, and I'm positive this terrible Italian dub did not help matters (knowing full well a proper English language version exists).
The Untold Story also does some rehashing of its own, and features all sorts of Caligula-esque mayhem (sex/death). There is one torture/death scene I've never seen in a movie, and I'm a horror movie addict, that is particularly brutal and unpleasant... But just not enough to bring up my rating from one star. A 1.1 for that. There are a number of critical failures in this Severin release. Firstly, the story is paper-thin. Worse, it is insanely dull (I mentioned a lethal sin). There is a story about a slave girl Caligula falls for, who has nefarious intentions of her own. Cut to, just about the biggest slap in the face of a resolution any modern-day movie could have.
You want worse? This edition features an extended cut, 16 minutes longer than the US cut, so naturally I gravitated toward seeing that version. This movie's native spoken language is English. What you're saddled with here, with no options to change it, is a terrible Italian DUB, with subtitles. Yikes. And good luck with keeping up with these subs for 2+ hours, because they come and go quickly. I had to watch it in two sittings, because I thought it would never end.
This movie hobbles along for about 45 painful minutes, then (you can thank inspiration from Tinto Brass) devolves into a graphic, ceaseless orgy sequence, the length of which I haven't seen since Carlos Tobalina was still alive. Or maybe it just seemed that way (though it lasted at least 30 minutes). Assuming at least the bulk of the 16 minutes of padding can be found here. There's midgets, ED, elderly people, various unpleasantries (participants are sprayed with blood as there is a fight to the death going on in the meantime), and to cap it off, a rather unattractive looking woman manipulates a horse. And I thought the graphic donkey and horse scenes in Caligula and Messalina were over-the-top.
You're saying, oh, that sounds interesting. Until you slog through it. Funny thing, this is where I stopped the movie, to finish it another time. When graphic sex was onscreen, which I have no aversion to.
Anyway, once those fireworks (I'm using the term loosely) subside, it goes back to the non-story where Caligula enjoys torturing people, and having sex with his slave girl (in two identical scenes!). The Untold Story was one major swing and a miss for me, and I'm positive this terrible Italian dub did not help matters (knowing full well a proper English language version exists).